Every Tuesday at WSUM, our Music Director, Arthur, chooses his favorite new releases to add to our music library. Here are this week's favorites, presented to you by WSUM's Music Journalism Club.
STAYC, YOUNG-LUV.COM
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “RUN2U,” “YOUNG LUV,” “SAME SAME”
GENRE: K-pop
RIYL: Billlie, TWICE, NMIXX, aespa
Debuting into a large K-pop company is hard enough, but being able to find virality amongst thousands of groups is even harder. Six-member Korean girl group STAYC show not only their musical prowess but ability to succeed in their second mini-album YOUNG-LUV.COM. With ages ranging from 16-19, this young group undoubtedly had something to prove with this comeback. Coming off the tremendous virality and success of their 2021 singles “STEREOTYPE” and “ASAP”, STAYC shows that they are a force to be reckoned with within the fourth generation of K-pop girl groups. Through stunning vocals, catchy choruses and their signature “girl crush” style, STAYC tells the story of young love and adolescence in tracks that remain unique and stylized. The title track, “RUN2U” is reminiscent of second generation girl group influences such as Miss A and Girls' Generation, and brings a sense of nostalgia that has been missing in recent K-pop releases. Tracks such as “YOUNG LUV” and “I WANT U BABY” display STAYC's range from emotional vocals to hard-hitting rap verses, and prove that this young group has a bright future ahead of them. YOUNG-LUV.COM perfectly solidifies the light airiness of the “girl crush” concept with a modern twist that is needed in the music industry today.
–Saffron Mears
Buñuel, Killers Like Us
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS:
GENRE: Doom Metal, noise Rock
RIYL: Sleep, Swans
Menacing. Evil. Stalking you with red, glowing eyes, claws, and bloody teeth. “Heavy with a capital H” according to the Bandcamp page. Hailing from Italy, Buñuel have put out a crushing, doomy, noisy, destructive album with a temper and a strong hatred for the listener. Massive sounding drums, threatening and unhinged guitar, crunchy, looming bass, deranged, atonal screamed and spoken vocals… Every moment keeps you on your toes, keeps you in fear, and keeps your adrenaline flowing. Despite how aggressive and terrifying it is, the album keeps up an atmospheric feeling at times, although maybe an unsettling one. There is a distant, ominous drone found in many songs, and many foreboding sounds and effects are peppered in. This is a horrifyingly beautiful soundtrack to one's descent into insanity.
— Karl Hahn
Metronomy, Small World
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Things will be fine”, “Love Factory”, “Right on time”
GENRE: Alternative/indie pop, synth, electronic
RIYL: Hot Chip, The Whitest Boy Alive, Methyl Ethel
Though released in the dead of winter, Metronomy's new release, Small World, feels perfect for summer. Perhaps it is the playful techno beeps and beats on “It's good to be back” that make you want to drive with the windows down or the more relaxed guitar chords of “I lost my mind” that sound perfect for hanging out in a basement with your friends. This album has an almost perfect 50/50 of each vibe. Twinkly synth, sad lyrics over deceivingly upbeat instrumentals and songs that feel almost childlike on the ears carry through all nine tracks. The opening track prepares you for easy listening with delightfully dream-like sounds of piano, electronic sounds and repetitive drumming that feel like falling in slow motion. Metronomy has curated a compilation of songs that are guaranteed to be played over and over.
— Jillian Turner
Methyl Ethel, Are You Haunted?
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “In a Minute, Sublime,” “Neon Cheap,” “Ghosting,” “Castigat Ridendo Mores”
GENRE: Synthpop, indie, alternative
RIYL: Mallrat, E^ST, Stereolab, Beach House
Australian band Methyl Ethel's fourth album Are You Haunted? asks the big questions about truth, identity, and power, to name a few, in an unexpected turn from a group who has made their name writing dreamy, personal pop songs. But even as their focus shifts outward from the inner life and takes aim at concepts like climate change and misinformation, the otherworldly, drifting-through-space sound remains, combined with the band's signature 80's pop influences and infectious dance grooves. The frequent dark turns are to be expected, really, from an album called Are You Haunted?, but lead writer Jake Webb doesn't lean into gloom for the sake of gloom. Each song explores prescient and relatable concepts that we may push to the edge of our minds but can never truly forget, and there's something cathartic and comforting about Webb's androgynous tenor voicing fears we hide even from ourselves. It's no walk in the park, but Webb reels us back in from despair with catchy hooks, beats made for dancing, and an ethereal, five minute closer reminiscent of Beach House at their best.
– Anna Thompson
JYOCHO, Let's Promise to Be Happy
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Gather the Lights”, “The End of Sorrow”, “Measure the Dawn”
GENRE: Math rock, progressive pop, post-punk
RIYL: RADWIMPS, ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, fox capture plan
Guitarist Daijiro Nakagawa translates his masterful math-rock passion through the lens of progressive pop in Let's Promise to Be Happy, the fourth album from JYOCHO. Breaking onto the scene in 2016, JYOCHO has built a niche but deeply dedicated community around its fusion of modern-pop sensibilities and classical compositions. Let's Promise to Be Happy isolates this underlying motif and argues for a brighter future in its brief twenty-four-minute runtime as it meanders through its melodies, creating a deep, mature sense of nostalgia, like remembering a summer road trip with good friends. Much like a memory, it's as beautiful as it is fleeting. Don't miss it.
– Dominic Zappia
Future Kult, Future Kult
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Hidalgo,” “My Brothers and Me,” “Red Sands,” “Endgames”
GENRE: Art rock, alternative
RIYL: MGMT, Nothing But Thieves, A Place to Bury Strangers
In late 2020, film score composer Sion Trefor and art producer Benjamin Zombori ventured into the Mexican countryside. For three months, the secluded river valley of Hidalgo served as a refuge from the obligations of the traditional music scene and the backdrop for their creative pursuits. Their Future Kult project represents the results of this experience – a masterful exploration of dystopian sound and a cutting edge rejection of all things conventional. The album roars to a start with “Hidalgo,” a rhythmic tribute to the landscape which lent them such inspiration. Jarring sirens and steady, dense lyricism induce a sense of dark wonder, immersing listeners in the apocalyptic world that the project centers around. A perfectly executed buildup near the middle of the song commands listeners' attention, and clattering, metallic drum beats combine with a symphony of reverbed synth tracks to pull them in even closer. “The Wolf” follows as a carefree, flippant contrast to the opening track. It distorts vocals and stringed instruments while maintaining melodic repetition, exemplifying the calculated contradiction between order and chaos that make Future Kult so memorable. “My Brothers and Me” features hushed, rapid narration, bristling with double meanings and wordplay – it is a vivid scene of bloodlust, revenge, and loyalty set against crackling percussion. “Red Sands” takes on scorched guitar, a ringing drumline and a warbling, extraterrestrial interlude. As the album winds down with “Endgames,” synthesized flurries and distorted falsetto vocals symbolize the cinematic closing of a window into the experimental and otherworldly.
— Claire Borgelt
Khruangbin, Leon Bridges, Texas Moon
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Mariella,” “B-Side,” “Chocolate Hills”
GENRE: Psychedelic soul, psychedelic rock, funk
RIYL: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Sugar Candy Mountain, Babe Rainbow
Serving as a predecessor to 2020's Texas Sun, Texas Moon carries on the Khruangbin and Leon Bridges Texan sky-themed series, this time adopting a much sleepier sound. Every song is guaranteed to put listeners into a trance — “B-Side'” flawlessly emulates the feeling of driving down a country road at night, while “Chocolate Hills” and its sparse instrumentals create white space for Bridges's vocals to satisfyingly fill in. The EP definitely becomes a bit lackluster toward the middle, though this slump resolves with “Mariella,” which ties the album together with a smooth, slightly melancholy melody. Leon Bridges's vocals stand out here — it's a great reminder of how well his voice pairs with Khruangbin's usual genre-blending instrumentals. Unfortunately, aside from generally slowing down the tempo, Texas Moon does little to differentiate from the sound that Khruangbin and Leon Bridges have constructed in their previous collaborations. But with a sound this solid, can I really complain?
– Amelia Zollner